Valve, circuit module and method providing integrated electronics in an electronically controlled valve and electronic assemblies

ABSTRACT

A valve is described. The valve includes a valve body that at least partially defining a valve envelope and a plurality of circuit substrates which is disposed within the valve envelope. At least one circuit substrates in the plurality of circuit substrates includes circuitry for controlling the valve. A circuit module is also described. A method is described for integrating circuit modules into a plurality of arrangements to provide various electronic functions and applications; these applications may be incorporated into a valve body, in support of a more complex electronic assembly, or as stand-alone electronic assemblies.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) from Provisional Patent Application No. 60/854,562, filed Oct. 25, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to control systems and, more specifically, relates to controllers and systems using electronically controlled valves, electronically controlled valves, and portions thereof.

BACKGROUND

Control systems for electronically controlled valves control many different types of fluids for many different purposes. While control systems, their controllers, and the associated electronically controlled valves have many benefits, these control systems, controllers, electronically controlled valves and portions thereof may still be improved.

SUMMARY

A further exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is a valve. The valve includes a valve body that at least partially defines a valve envelope. Also includes a plurality of circuit substrates which is disposed within the valve envelope. At least one circuit substrates in the plurality of circuit substrates includes circuitry for controlling the valve.

An additional exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is a circuit module. The circuit module includes at least two circuit substrate. The circuit substrate include circuitry for controlling a valve. The circuit module is configured to fit within a valve envelope that is at least partially defined by a valve body.

Another exemplary embodiment in accordance with this invention is a method. A valve body that at least partially defines a valve envelope is provided. A plurality of circuit substrates are disposed within the valve envelope. At least one circuit substrate of the plurality of circuit substrates includes circuitry for controlling the valve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The attached Drawing Figures include the following:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system including a portion for controlling an electronically controlled valve and the electronically controlled valve;

FIG. 2 is a cutaway, perspective view of an exemplary pneumatic valve;

FIG. 3 is a view of the motor housing retainer coupled to the motor housing and also of the coil header assembly and spool;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve shown in FIG. 2 with a large electronics cover;

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the valve shown in FIG. 2, without the large electronics cover but with a number of circuit modules;

FIG. 6 is a cutaway, perspective view of the valve of FIG. 2, with the large electronics over and a number of circuit modules;

FIG. 7 is a top view of screening for an analog PID controller; and

FIG. 8 shows a logic flow diagram of a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram is shown of an exemplary system 100 having a portion for controlling an electronically controlled valve 120. System 100 also includes in this example the electronically controlled valve 120. FIG. 1 is a simplistic, high-level view of a system 100 that includes a control input 105, an adder 110, a spool position controller 115, the electronically controlled valve 120, and a feedback sensor module 150 that takes an input from one or more feedback sensors (not shown) and that produces one or more feedback signals 151. A valve controller 160 includes the adder 110, the spool position controller 115, and the feedback sensor module 150. The electronically controlled valve 120 includes a spool actuator 125, such as a voice coil, a spool 130, a body 135, an input 140, and an output 145.

The electronically controlled valve 120 controls fluid (e.g., air, gas, water, oil) 141 flow through the electronically controlled valve 120 by operating the spool 130. The spool actuator 125 controls movement of the spool 130 based on one or more control signals 116 from the spool position controller 115. The spool position controller 115 modifies the one or more control signals 116 based on the one or more input signals 111, which include addition of the control input signal 105 and the one or more feedback signals 151. The feedback sensor module 150 can monitor the spool actuator 120 (e.g., current through the spool actuator), a sensor indicating the position of the spool 130, or sensors indicating any number of other valve attributes (e.g., pressure or flow rate of the fluid 141). Aspects of the present invention are related to a number of the elements shown in FIG. 1.

Turning to FIG. 2 in addition to FIG. 1, a cutaway, perspective view is shown of an exemplary pneumatic valve 200. The pneumatic valve 200 includes an electronics cover 205, a motor housing retainer 207, a motor housing 210, an upper cavity 215, a lower cavity 216, a coil header assembly 220, a spool 230, a sleeve 260, a lower spring 240, an upper spring 245, external ports 270, 271, 280, 281, and 282, circumferentially spaced internal ports 270 a, 271 a, 280 a, 281 a, and 282 a, and a valve body 290. Coil header assembly 220 includes a voice coil portion 222 having a voice coil 221 and an overlap portion that overlaps a portion of the spool 230 and connects the spool 230 to the coil header assembly 220. The spool actuator 125 of FIG. 1 includes, in the example of FIG. 2, motor housing 210, coil header assembly 220, upper spring 245, and lower spring 240. It is noted that a view of the motor housing 210 is also shown in, e.g., FIG. 3 and that at least a portion of the motor housing 210 is magnetized in order to be responsive to the voice coil 221. It can be seen that the motor housing retainer 207 is coupled to the voice coil 221, here using a flexible cable 1720.

In the example show in FIG. 2, a top surface 211 of the motor housing 210 contacts a bottom surface 208 of motor housing retainer 207. The motor housing 210 is therefore held in place by the motor housing retainer 207, and the motor housing retainer 207 is a printed circuit board. The motor housing retainer 207 can serve multiple purposes.

Patent application Ser. No. ______, filed on Sep. 19, 2007 and titled “Retaining Element for a Mechanical Component” describes the motor housing retainer 207 in further detail. Patent application Ser. No. ______ is assigned to the assignee of the present application, and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The spool 230 includes in this example a passage 265. The passage 265 has a number of purposes, including equalizing pressure between the upper cavity 215 and the lower cavity 216, as described in more detail below. The passage 230 is included in an exemplary embodiment herein, but the spool 230 may also be manufactured without passage 265.

The electronics cover 205 includes a connector 206 used to couple a spool position controller 115 to the voice coil 221 on voice coil portion 222. The electronics cover 205 and connector 206 are only examples of a cover and connector in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of this invention. The cover 205 and connector 206 shown are non-limiting examples.

A description of exemplary operation of the valve 200 is included in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,831, which is assigned to the assignee of the present application. It forms part of the present application and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,831 describes, for instance, airflow through the external ports 270, 271, 280, 281, and 283 and the circumferentially spaced internal ports 270 a, 271 a, 280 a, 281 a, and 283 a. It is noted that the springs 240, 245 along with the coil header assembly 220, motor housing 210, and spool 230, are configured such that the spool 230 blocks the ports 281A when no power is applied to the voice coil 221. Other portions of pneumatic valve 200 are also described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,831.

The motor housing retainer 207 is a circuit module with limited functionality, which means that the valve controller 160 of FIG. 1 retains all of the electronics used to create the control signal(s) 116 and therefore control the electronically controlled valve 120. The integration of electronics and controls within the pneumatic valve “envelope” (e.g., body 290 and an electronics cover such as electronics cover 205) is a desirable attribute in the market place. In order to accomplish design goals of enabling integration of electronics and controls within the envelope, a significant amount of circuitry would be required that would not fit in the available area. Additionally, several circuit functions that would be required on certain valves would also be required on some products, but might not be required on other products. A small, low cost, high performance solution can minimize the impact of subsequent changes, and unify a product line.

A classical approach to circuit design is to conduct ‘product proprietary’ circuit design. Clearly, this can consume a great deal of time and cost due to duplicated effort. Alternatively, circuit designs can be ‘copied’ and ‘pasted’ into several designs; however, a problem in one circuit would impact every circuit from which the original design was copied. Traceability would become a concern when using such an approach to ensure that the changes occurred in every duplicated circuit.

An exemplary proposed solution herein divides basic functional elements into ‘circuit modules’ with board-to-board connectors placed strategically and manufactured with appropriate orientation and type of connectors to ensure that improper installation is not allowed. Each circuit module utilizes a common backplane for analog signals, digital signals, and power. In this manner, the circuit modules can be stacked vertically (e.g., top surface to bottom surface) in any arrangement without affecting performance or operation (small X-Y footprint, but Z varies with the number of modules).

Additionally, a backplane printed circuit board (PCB) can be manufactured to accept these modules with a common backplane such that the modules can be used in various products, decreasing cost, easing change management, reducing the number of manufactured parts while increasing the number of products that can be offered, and providing design flexibility. It would therefore be possible to stock a cabinet full of modules and manufacture product shells. Upon product order, the product could be assembled from bins of circuit modules, where the same circuit module would show up on numerous products but require only a single design effort. Furthermore, modification of that one circuit module would not necessarily affect other circuit modules. Typically, however, modification of that one circuit module would cause an automatic upgrade to all products that use the modified module.

Various circuit modules may be defined and used either as part of a valve assembly (e.g., valve assembly 2000 as show in FIG. 4, described below) or as part of a valve controller (e.g., valve controller 160 of FIG. 1) or as part of both.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the valve shown in FIG. 2 with a large electronics cover 2010. A cover (e.g., electronics cover 205 or large electronics cover 2010) along with the valve body 290 form part of the valve assembly 2000. The large electronics cover 2010 allows, as shown in FIG. 5, a number of circuit modules 2110 to form part of the valve assembly 2000. As shown in FIG. 6, one or more connectors 2210 can be used to interconnect the various circuit modules 2110. Additionally, the motor housing retainer 207 has a J1 connector that would mate with corresponding contact-type connectors on a circuit module 2110.

FIG. 7 is a top view of screening for an analog PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controller, which shows a number of connectors J1, J2, J5, J6, J9, and J10 that are designed to mate with corresponding connectors 2210 on the circuit modules 2110. The PID controller may be located within the valve controller 160.

The circuit modules 2110 may be, for example, a driver/controller module or a power supply module. Each of these circuit modules has certain corresponding functions.

A driver/controller module may be designed to accept analog input signals and to provide anti-alias filtering prior to analog to digital conversion. It may include a ‘driver disable’ input for emergency functions.

An industrial signal conversion module can convert an input signal to a signal to be placed on a backplane for processing by other circuit modules. Such a module may include switches to steer the signal to the appropriate outputs on the backplane.

A connector interface and indication module may also double as a dummy module. Such a module may provide connectors to connect to external device. Additionally, the module may include indicators, such as LEDs.

Additionally, a module may be designed to provide active circuit connections.

A benefit to these circuit modules is that they can be placed vertically on top of the motor housing retainer 207 and therefore provide certain functionality within the valve assembly 2000. Furthermore, the circuit modules 2110 can be placed “horizontally” in the mounting locations 2310, 2320, and 2330 of FIG. 7.

In the example of FIG. 7, the mounting location 2330 is suitable for use with the driver/controller module 2110, but the mounting locations 2310 and 2320 are not suitable for use with the driver/controller module 2110. It is noted that the circuit modules 2110 described previously are merely exemplary. Many other functions can be designed in, for instance, an RS232 or RS485 communication module; perhaps a high performance processor; or an Ethernet or wireless communication module. The options are nearly limitless.

FIG. 8 shows a logic flow diagram of a method in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of this invention. In step 810, a valve body that at least partially defines a valve envelope is provided. A plurality of circuit substrates are disposed within the valve envelope in step 820. At least one circuit substrate of the plurality of circuit substrates includes circuitry for controlling the valve.

Additionally, at least one of the substrates provides a given functionality. Said substrate is selected according to the functionality it provides.

Depending on the specific requirements of the valve a given module may be located either “vertically” in the valve envelope or “horizontally” in the external controller 160. It is therefore possible to create the control circuitry for a valve using a number of pre-existing modules by selecting the modules providing the desired functionalities and placing the selected modules either within the valve envelope or in the external controller 160 (e.g., on a common backplane provided in the external controller 160).

Certain embodiments of the disclosed invention may be implemented by hardware (e.g., one or more processors, discrete devices, programmable logic devices, large scale integrated circuits, or some combination of these), software (e.g., firmware, a program of executable instructions, microcode, or some combination of these), or some combination thereof. Aspects of the disclosed invention may also be implemented on one or more semiconductor circuits, comprising hardware and perhaps software residing in one or more memories. Aspects of the disclosed invention may also include computer-executable media tangibly embodying one or more programs of computer-readable instructions executable by one or more processors to perform certain of the operations described herein.

The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the best techniques presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out embodiments of the invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. All such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.

It is noted that the example described above specifically concerns valves and controller for valves. However, the techniques shown above are also applicable to any electronic device having various electronic functions which may be suitable for modular embodiments, and the use of the exemplary embodiments of this invention is not limited to electronic valves.

Furthermore, some of the features of exemplary embodiments of this invention could be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of embodiments of the present invention, and not in limitation thereof. While the exemplary embodiments are illustrative of electronically controlled valves, the techniques in accordance with this invention may be applied to various electronically controlled devices, e.g., motors, etc. 

1. A valve comprising: a valve body at least partially defining a valve envelope; and a plurality of circuit substrates disposed within the valve envelope; wherein at least one of the plurality of circuit substrates comprises circuitry for controlling the valve.
 2. The valve as in claim 1, further comprising a cover that further defines the valve envelope.
 3. The valve as in claim 2, wherein the cover further comprises a connector and wherein at least one of the circuit substrates within the plurality of circuit substrates is electrically connected to the connector.
 4. The valve as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of circuit substrates provides a given functionality.
 5. The valve as in claim 4, wherein the arrangement of the plurality of circuit substrates does not affect the functionality of the at least one circuit substrate.
 6. The valve as in claim 1, wherein the circuit substrates within the plurality of circuit substrates are stacked top to bottom so as to have the same footprint.
 7. The valve as in claim 6, wherein the circuit substrates within the plurality of circuit substrates may only be stacked according to a given orientation.
 8. The valve as in claim 1, wherein the circuit substrates within the plurality of circuit substrates are electronically connected.
 9. The valve as in claim 1, wherein a circuit substrate comprises an electrically insulated dielectric.
 10. The valve as in claim 1, wherein the plurality of circuit substrates operate in cooperation with a controller that is external to the valve envelope.
 11. The valve as in claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of circuit substrates comprises active circuit components.
 12. A circuit module comprising: at least two circuit substrate; and circuitry for controlling a valve, wherein the circuit substrate is configured to fit within a valve envelope that is at least partially defined by a valve body.
 13. The circuit module as in claim 12, wherein the one of the circuit substrates provides a given functionality.
 14. The circuit module as in claim 13, wherein the arrangement of the plurality of circuit substrates does not affect the functionality of the at least one circuit substrate.
 15. The circuit module as in claim 12, wherein the at least one circuit substrate further comprises active circuit components.
 16. The circuit module as in claim 12, wherein the circuit substrates within the plurality of circuit substrates are electronically connected.
 17. The circuit module as in claim 12, wherein the module is further configured to be capable of being attached to a backplane of an external controller of the device.
 18. A method comprising: providing a valve body that at least partially defines a valve envelope; and disposing a plurality of circuit substrates within the valve envelope; wherein at least one circuit substrate of the plurality of circuit substrates comprises circuitry for controlling the valve.
 19. The method as in claim 18, further comprising attaching a valve cover to the valve body such that the cover further defines the valve envelope, wherein the valve cover provides an electrical connection to the circuit substrates within the envelope of the valve.
 20. The method as in claim 18, wherein at least one circuit substrate of the plurality of circuit substrates provides a given functionality and wherein the at least one circuit substrate of the plurality of circuit substrates is selected according to the functionality provided.
 21. The method as in claim 18, wherein one of the circuit substrates provides a given functionality, and wherein the arrangement of the plurality of circuit substrates does not affect the functionality of the at least one circuit substrate.
 22. The method as in claim 18, further comprising disposing another plurality of circuit substrates within a controller that is external to the valve envelope, where the plurality of circuit substrates disposed within the valve envelope operate in cooperation with the controller that is external to the valve envelope.
 23. The method as in claim 22, wherein the circuit substrates are configured to fit within both the controller that is external to the valve envelope and the valve envelope. 